US Army to get new Bridging Tank

Defense News is reporting that the Army is readying production of a new bridging system after awarding DRS Technologies, Inc., a $400 million production contract to integrate the bridge platform onto an M1 Abrams tank. According to the article, the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB) will replace a couple of older bridging systems, the Armored Vehicle Launch Bridge (AVLB) and the Wolverine. The AVLB system is on an M60 chassis, which is not only slower than the rest of the vehicles resident in an Armored Brigade Combat Team but is also becoming more difficult to maintain and sustain. The JAB will also replace the Wolverine bridging system which came online in the late 90s and early 2000s with the intention to replace the AVLB. The Wolverine found to be difficult to operate and maintain, an few were built due to cost. The Army built over 400 AVLBs for its own inventory and foreign militaries and produced only about 40 Wolverines.